Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the UN’s influential Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, has resigned in the wake of allegations of sexual harassment.
During Pachauri’s 13-year tenure as chair of the IPCC, the organization won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 and weathered numerous controversies, including the IPCC’s use of non-peer-reviewed reports from environmental lobbying groups that dramatically exaggerated the speed of glacial melt in the Himalayas.
Citing Climategate Scandal
Marc Morano, executive director of ClimateDepot,com, says Pachauri did the IPCC a favor by resigning. In a statement regarding the February 24 resignation, Morano said, “If Pachauri had any decency, he would have resigned in the wake of the Climategate scandal, which broke in 2009. Climategate implicated the upper echelon of UN IPCC scientists in attempting to collude and craft a narrative on global warming while allowing no dissent.”
“But it took the proceedings of the Indian court system over the allegations of sexual harassment to finally bring Pachauri down. Things can only be looking up for the UN IPCC now that it has ridded itself of this political and ethical cancer,” Morano added in his statement.
Activist, Not Scientist
Pachauri was not a climate scientist, but instead began his career as a mechanical engineer with Indian Railways. Later he earned a doctorate in industrial engineering and economics from North Carolina State University. After serving in various positions at universities in the United States and India, in 2002 Pachauri was elected Chairman of the IPCC.
With Pachauri at the helm, each new IPCC report contained increasingly alarming claims concerning alleged dangers from climate change and greater certainty humans were the cause. Pachauri affirmed that attitude in his resignation letter, , “For me the protection of Planet Earth … is my religion.”
Pachauri’s fervor undermined the IPCC’s scientific work, according to Myron Ebell, director of the Center for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
“Dr. Pachauri’s resignation because of sexual harassment allegations should not obscure the fact that under his chairmanship the IPCC’s scientific credibility has been damaged beyond repair,” Ebell said. “Pachauri allowed a cabal of IPCC scientists to twist and distort the large body of scientific research to support the political agenda of global warming alarmism. It’s good that he’s gone, but the alarmist cabal still controls the IPCC,” said Ebell.
Ruined IPCC’s Credibility For now, IPCC Vice-Chairman Ismail El Gizouli will fill Pachauri’s role at scheduled climate meetings.
Free-enterprise activist Ron Arnold says Pachauri’s resignation is no loss.
“After more than twelve years of suffering under his ideological and economic harassment, the world should have only one regret about the resignation of Rajendra Pachauri as IPCC chairman, which is that there will be a replacement,” Arnold said.
H. Sterling Burnett, Ph.D. ([email protected]) is a research fellow with The Heartland Institute.
H. Sterling Burnett, Ph.D., is the Director of the Arthur B. Robinson Center on Climate and Environmental Policy and the managing editor of Environment & Climate News.
